It became clear early in the weekend, that Borell was going to struggle to match the pace of the three Sonic drivers, and Chaz Mostert’s in the Spectrum up front. Borell was still hopeful of a Top 5 grid spot, however an anti-roll bar problem, and inability to get a clear lap in qualifying, meant that 13^th on the grid was the best that was possible. It was clearly going to be a tough weekend from the mid pack for Borell.

Race 1 was an action packed affair, with Borell finishing in 11^th after a race long battle with Tom Goess. Race 2 stepped the intensity up a notch, with a monumental battle for 6^th with Nick Cassidy, Caleb Rayner, Tom Goess and a number of other drivers. Borell came home 9^th for more championship points, after running as high as 6^th. “We are a bit of a sitting-duck on the straight here. For whatever reason we are not very quick, while we have been excellent in that department earlier in the year. It’s not an engine issue, but we can’t pinpoint it yet. It makes it hard to pass, and even harder to avoid being passed. I drove my socks off, so 9^th is disappointing. Not sure what is the reason, so we’ll see how Race 3 goes” said Borell.

If Race 1 and 2 were full of action, Race 3 was sizzling with intensity. Borell made a good start, getting up to 5^th by the end of the first lap. Andre hoped to maintain position, but it was not easy: “I didn’t have the pace to be running 5^th, so it was always going to be tough to hold on to it. Waters got by me at the halfway mark, but I thought I could maintain 6^th for sure. It was a tough battle to hold off the guys behind, but I was doing an OK job. Unfortunately on the last lap, Nathan (Morcom) hit the back of me and rolled over me. He came right over the cockpit so I’m lucky to still have my head on my shoulders. I kept going on three-and-a-half wheels and crossed the line, but out of the points with 13^th” said Borell. The frightening and headline-making accident was a nasty end to the weekend, but with Morcom and Borell both walking away unharmed, things could have been much worse.

Borell remains 7^th in the championship, and hopes that testing planned during the mid season break will help Master Electricians / simPRO Racing to improve for the final 3 rounds.

Andre is supported in 2010 by Master Electricians, simPRO, HPM Legrand, Extreme Safety, Speedo, Yellow Jersey, Giant, Xtreme Racing and Mediaglue. For more information contact Andre directly on andre@andreborellmotorsport.com

Held at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway, Round 4 of the Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship turned out to be just as eventful as the trip there for Borell. Qualifying a lowly 12^th, a disappointed Borell struggled to match the pace of the other top drivers after hitting traffic on his best lap. Race 1 went somewhat batter, with Borell making his way up to 7^th spot, and another handy haul of points. Borell said: “That was a very eventful race! We had a few of those white and red cars running into each other all around us, so to dodge a few bullets and finish 7^th is OK”.

Race 2 looked promising starting P7; however a dogged start from the dirty side of the grid saw Borell drop several spots. In a hard fought race, Borell climbed back to 9^th before contact dropped him to 13^th. Borell described the race as “the worst of my life, hands down”.

The Race 1 and 2 action had nothing on what the third had on offer however. Keen to make an impression of the first lap, Borell did a brave move around the outside of turn two: “It was going well, but a couple of the Rising Star things hit each other again, and slid into me when they did. I got launched pretty good, I was lucky to not end up upside down like Nathan (Morcom) did”. After making it back onto the circuit, Borell was keen to press on and immediately went for a move on Jon Mills into Turn 1: “I was side by side in the braking area, but when I hit the pedal nothing happened! The earlier contact damaged a brake line. I’m glad there’s loads of run-off there or it would have been a massive shunt. I needed a change of undies after that one” said a relieved Borell.

Borell leapfrogged two competitors with his points haul, and now sits 7^th in the championship. With his teammate Adam Graham one spot ahead in 6^th – both Evans Motorsport drivers will be hoping for a stronger second half of the championship.

Andre is supported in 2010 by Master Electricians, simPRO, HPM Legrand, Extreme Safety, Speedo, Yellow Jersey, Giant, Xtreme Racing and Mediaglue. For more information contact Andre directly on andre@andreborellmotorsport.com

Andre has plenty of reasons to be positive, with the characteristics of the Hidden Valley suiting his Mygale mount, and also after running strongly last year in outdated machinery. First and foremost Borell is excited to get back in the car: “Four weeks is way too long to be out of the car, I’m absolutely itching to get back in and have a steer. We had a tough round at Winton, but I’m not worried about going to Darwin. I love the track, and ran OK there last year until our engine problem”.

Andre is confident of returning to being a top-5 runner, with individual race results his priority. “As I said after Winton, the word ‘Championship’ is out of my vocabulary now. It’s all about strong race results – ‘all or nothing’ kind of thing. It’ll be nice to have that fresh mindset. I’m going to go hard at Darwin”.

In other news, Andre has recently been battling a severe virus, one that threatened to rule him out of the Triathlon World Championships he was selected for recently. “I was pretty close to pulling the pin on going to the worlds. No-one could figure out what was wrong with me and it was really affecting my training, not to mention my day-to-day life. I tried heaps of doctors, and finally got somewhere last week after countless tests. I’m being treated for it now, and should be all clear to train again in a week or two. It definitely affected me at Winton” said an upbeat Borell.

A highlights package from the weekends action at Darwin will be shown on 7TWO on Saturday, June 26 at 2:30pm AEST. Check your local guides for confirmation.

Andre is supported in 2010 by Master Electricians, simPRO, HPM Legrand, Extreme Safety, Speedo, Yellow Jersey, Giant, Xtreme Racing and Mediaglue. For more information contact Andre directly on andre@andreborellmotorsport.com

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Andre explains what went wrong, and how a number of factors contributed to the point-less weekend: “We couldn’t find any grip all weekend. From Practice one the car was a bit of a dog. My teammate Adam (Graham) and I were both saying the same thing, and we just couldn’t dial the car in to the conditions. I think I let that get to my driving a lot more than Adam did, and come qualifying he salvaged something with 7^th, while I was back in 12^th. Come racing, AG was clear of all the mid-field shenanigans while I was right in the thick of it. Three races, two destroyed nosecones and a lot of hard racing later – I made a mess of everything and left empty handed while AG salvaged something and stayed in contention with 6th for the round. It’s amazing how one qualifying session can essentially destroy a championship assault”.

Borell however sees a positive in the fact that he is now over 60 points off the championship lead, and that lies in his mental approach: “Prior to this weekend, I always had the words ‘points’ and ‘championship’ in the back of my mind while out there racing. That’s pretty much over now, I’m not even considering it. Now I can just go balls-out and race hard and aggressive the rest of the year with absolutely nothing to lose. That will help to snare a couple of good results I think –  especially when the main title contenders are worried about each other and not me so much. The aim for the year is now podiums and maybe a win or two. That would be great for my sponsors, team and all my other supporters”.

The next round of the championship will be held in a month’s time at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin from June 18-20, and Andre knows that the pace will be back as they head to the Top End. You can catch all the highlights from Round 2 and 3 on new digital channel ‘7TWO’ on May 29 at 2:30pm. Check your local guides for confirmation.

Andre is supported in 2010 by Master Electricians, simPRO, HPM Legrand, Extreme Safety, Speedo, Yellow Jersey, Giant, Xtreme Racing and Mediaglue. For more information contact Andre directly on andre@andreborellmotorsport.com

Andre is content sitting 6^th in the Championship chase after two rounds, and knows very well that by being only 26 points behind the new leader Nick Foster – anything is still possible. “There is a long way to go, and anything can – and probably will, happen. It’s a nine-horse race at the moment. That will no doubt boil down as the season goes on, but clearly no-one is going to dominate like Percat did last year and we could see it come down to three or four guys by the final round. I just want to stay in the hunt and be a part of that at the end” said a level-headed Borell.

Andre was one of the many front-runners to test a week prior to the Queensland event, however struggled with pace at the State Formula Ford race “I wasn’t too optimistic heading into the National weekend as we were a bit off at the state round. I think as the V8 rubber went down we got a bit stronger, and I think we were as quick as anyone come race day. Had the cards fallen a little differently we could have been on the podium. We tested at Winton on Friday, and again we’re a bit off if I’m honest. Hopefully the track comes towards our car again this weekend”. Andre is of course referring to Round 3 to be held this weekend at Winton Motor Raceway in country Victoria.

Andre appears happy at his new Evans Motorsport home, with the close knit outfit working well together already, and he gave the following insight into his new surrounds: “I probably thought it would take us a bit longer to get up the front, but we’re there now and our car is every bit as good as the other guys when we get the sweet spot. I’ve been learning heaps from my engineer Gerard – he’s a bit of a guru. It’s nice to have someone switched on like that to work with, last year I was my own data engineer which makes things a bit harder! My team mate (Adam Graham) is no slouch either and I think we are both always pushing each other along whilst still working together at the same time. It’s all good at the moment, and we’re only going to get stronger”.

You can catch all the highlights from Round 2 and 3 on new digital channel ‘7TWO’ on May 29 at 2:30pm. Check your local guides for confirmation.

Andre is supported in 2010 by Master Electricians, simPRO, HPM Legrand, Extreme Safety, Speedo, Yellow Jersey, Giant, Xtreme Racing and Mediaglue. For more information contact Andre directly on andre@andreborellmotorsport.com

There has been some considerable attention on the 22-year-old’s extra-curricular Triathlon activities over the past few months, and one would be excused for thinking it’s all just a bit of propaganda. Well, the Triathlon Australia selectors don’t think so, picking Andre to be a part of the World Cup team to head to Budapest, Hungary this September and represent Australia. Borell shared his excitement at being named on the team: “I’m pumped; representing your country is always something you dream of as a kid. You can’t do it in motorsport, so being selected to do it in my first full year competing in Triathlon is pretty amazing and somewhat surprising. I’m going to go there to enjoy the experience, learn from the Pro’s, and see how I go”.

When asked if the sport came easy to him, Andre was quick to point out that Triathlon isn’t a discipline where anything comes easy: “No way, you bust your balls to get to the level I’m at now, and there is still a long way to go to be up there with the best. The press release that the team put out with all my training stats before the Grand Prix sums it up really – it’s a massive amount of training and hard work, I’d be lying if I said it was easy”.

Andre also competed in the Grand Final of the Queensland Tri Series at the weekend, where he defended his series lead and wrapped up the prestigious title. His next Formula Ford bout will be on April 30 – May 2 at Round 2 of the Genuine Ford Parts Formula Ford Championship, a round that coincides with the soon-to-be 23 year olds Birthday. Andre says he only wants one thing for his Birthday: a race win. With the round being held at Queensland Raceway, the Ipswich residents home track, he may just be in with a shot of getting his birthday wish.

Andre is supported in 2010 by Master Electricians, simPRO, HPM Legrand, Extreme Safety, Speedo, Yellow Jersey, Giant, Xtreme Racing and Mediaglue. For more information contact Andre directly on andre@andreborellmotorsport.com

Andre Borell and Master Electricians / simPRO Racing have started the 2010 Genuine Ford Parts Formula Ford Championship “according to plan” at the Qantas Australian Grand Prix at the weekend. Borell left the event with points in the bag and an 8^th place finish for the round. Andre sits only 17 points behind championship leader Chaz Mostert after the first round. With 427 points still up for grabs over the season, the margin is by no means significant.

Practice went well, with Borell getting to grips with the Mygale SJ10a on a high speed circuit for the first time (after testing only at Winton) and setting the 9^th fastest time. Qualifying was a step forward, placing his Master Electricians / simPRO Racing “Green Machine” on the third row of the grid with 6^th spot. Andre was happy, but knew he had not got the most out of the car: “This is far better than I have ever qualified so of course I am happy. Having said that, I could have been a bit quicker in a few sections, and a tow would have been nice. Sixth is OK”.

Race 1 on Saturday was an eventful one for Borell – making life very hard for himself after dropping as low as 13^th on the first lap. Andre explained the first lap: “I got a horrible start and lost a couple of places into the first corner. I should have probably done some practice starts in testing. After that I got slowed up a fair bit by Uhrhane when he spun in front of me, which dropped me another bunch of spots”. Borell worked very hard to move back up to 8^th place, closing back to within 2 seconds of 4^th place getter Ashley Walsh at the finish, but did not have the outright pace showed in qualifying. Some small set-up changes had not worked as expected, and the Evans Motorsport crew returned the car to qualifying set-up for Race 2.

Unfortunately, Race 2 was red-flagged and cancelled after a very heavy accident for Caleb Rayner in which the Melbourne drivers suffered a cracked vertebra. Caleb is otherwise OK and will make a full recovery. Andre was disappointed not to have another crack at the Albert Park circuit at full tilt: “The car felt much better in the first lap. I think we could have run with the front guys if I could have gotten on the back of that group after the safety car and the race gone it’s full distance”.

Preparations are already underway for Round 2 at Borell’s home circuit – Queensland Raceway in Ipswich. Borell has his sights set high for this race: “We’ve got to go there looking for the win really. We’re very similar pace to nearly all the front guys except maybe Chaz who has a bit on everyone. We can race with and beat any of them if we get everything right on the day. We just need to make sure we do exactly that – do everything perfect, from Practice 1 onwards”.

Andre is supported in 2010 by Master Electricians, simPRO, HPM Legrand, Extreme Safety, Speedo, Yellow Jersey, Giant, Xtreme Racing and Mediaglue. For more information contact Andre directly on andre@andreborellmotorsport.com

Driver / Sponsor / Team Organization:

• 879 Emails sent/received
• 320 Phone Calls made/received
• 152 Custom Sponsorship Proposals distributed
• 38 Formal Sponsorship Meetings held

Car Preparation:

• 900 man hours of Design, Build and Prep Time by Evans Motorsport
• 4 Litres of Paint and 20 Metres of Vinyl Sticker used on the Car by Cartrek Signs and Designs

Driver Training & Fitness:

• 160hrs or 9,600mins of Cycling, which equates to 768,000 pedal rotations and 5,200km covered. That’s more than the distance between Albert Park and Hidden Valley!
• 40hrs or 2,400mins of Running, which equates to 432,000 steps and 600km covered. That’s 2 full Formula 1 Grand Prix race distances!
• 80hrs or 4,800mins of Swimming, which equates to 4,800 laps of a 50m pool and 240km covered. That’s half way across Bass Straight!
• 380,000 calories burnt, which is equal to 740kg of apples, 275kg of pasta or 1900 x Snickers bars!

All of this preparation will be put into perspective after just a short 20min qualifying session at the Qantas Australian Grand Prix this week, when the championship pecking order will begin to emerge.

Last year’s champions Sonic Motor Racing Services, along with a revitalized Borland Racing Developments are set to be the biggest challengers for Andre Borell and Master Electricians / simPRO Racing in the chase for the Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship in 2010.  “I really, really hope I can have a strong weekend to reward Josh (Evans), Adam (Parkinson) and all the other boys for the hard work they have put in getting this team off the ground. They have been working stupid hours and I’m definitely going to buy them a beer after Race 2 on Sunday” said Borell.

Andre is supported in 2010 by Master Electricians, simPRO, HPM Legrand, Extreme Safety, Speedo, Yellow Jersey, Giant, Xtreme Racing and Mediaglue. For more information contact Andre directly on andre@andreborellmotorsport.com

Andre beamed enthusiasm as he spoke about the upcoming 2010 season “I am better prepared for this season than I have been ever before in my career. The team has the new car very nicely sorted, I’m fitter than I ever have been, I’m more comfortable in the car then I ever have been in a Formula Ford, I get along with my engineer and mechanic really well, my sponsors are basically all locked in – we’re as ready as we’ll ever be”. Andre is now looking forward to one more day of testing followed by Round one of the championship at the Qantas Australian Grand Prix.

As if to prove his physical readiness, Andre placed second in Race 6 of the Queensland Tri Series in Raby Bay last weekend. As usual, Andre annihilated his opposition on Bike leg, and was only caught and passed for the lead during the last 2km of the run. Andre now leads the Queensland Tri Series and looks set to be named on the Australian World Cup squad on April 2^nd: “This Triathlon thing started as a fun way to test my motor racing fitness, but I’ve gotten into it quite seriously. I’m a contender to get picked on the Australian Squad – which is pretty much unheard of for someone in their first season. I love it, I’m hooked”!

Evans Motorsport will be preparing the #5 simPRO Master Electricians Mygale SJ10a in 2010, which Andre has finally come up with a name for: Megan. Andre explains the name “I decided on Megan because of a friend that works in the simPRO office (our co-title sponsor). Her name is Megan, and she’s French like the Mygale – so it all clicked together quite nicely. I just couldn’t pick a name before that, I even had people make suggestions on my Facebook page but nothing sounded right. Megan is a bit of a sexy name – and the car is one sexy piece of kit, so it’s perfect”.

With an ultra-competitive, talent filled field set to fight out the championship – Andre Borell may just be the sleeper in the pack. Keep your eyes on the Fluro Green and Black Mygale SJ10a for a surprise or two this year.

Andre is supported in 2010 by Master Electricians, simPRO, HPM Legrand, Extreme Safety, Speedo, Yellow Jersey, Giant, Xtreme Racing and Mediaglue. For more information contact Andre directly on andre@andreborellmotorsport.com